


Daddy's Daddy

by TheStrangeSeaWolf



Series: The Tinkerer [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adoption, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Guilt, Hugs, Kid Fic, Tickling, riding on grandfather's shoulders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22035745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheStrangeSeaWolf/pseuds/TheStrangeSeaWolf
Summary: The Tinkerer makes a surprise visit to his son - and is surprised to meet more than just the Doctor.
Series: The Tinkerer [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623469
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [InsideTheTardis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsideTheTardis/gifts).



> [InsideTheTardis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsideTheTardis/pseuds/InsideTheTardis) thought that Elyne should meet her grandfather. I'm honored that I'm allowed to intrude their family life and deligthed to let the old chap put his flat cap on again so soon. 
> 
> If you want to learn more about Elyne meet [Twelve's Chaotic Space Family!Au](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1301651).
> 
> If you want to learn how the Doctor met his parents, read [Mother’s Day](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21269084/chapters/50639765) first. But this story works without the background information.

The Tinkerer wasn’t sure this was a good idea. But he hadn’t seen his son for a while, and he was in his time zone anyway, so he decided he could just give it a shot. He was surprised that his son was living on a university campus, but with the Doctor you never knew what happened, so he just rolled with it. He made sure his flat cap sat tightly and rang the bell.

The Doctor opened the door. His hair had definitely grown longer since he last saw him, and he appeared a bit tired. Or was it just more relaxed?

“Hi there, son!” He grinned.

The Doctor stared at him surprised.

“You!”

Well, his son never had been one for really warm welcomes. He was used to this. He simply pulled him into a hug and didn’t care about the protesting sounds that came from him, muffled by the fabric of his coat.

When he loosened his grip, he saw a small figure clinging to the Doctor’s legs. It had the eyes shut tight, but now opened one for a bit to look up to him.

“Who is the man, daddy?” A small voice asked, now looking up at the Doctor with wonderful amber eyes.

“Daddy?” He blurted. “You didn’t tell me you have kids!”

Well, why was he surprised? He had always loved kids, and Penelope, too. It would have been a surprise if his son hadn’t inherited that particular soft spot for the young ones of every species.

He got to his knees, so he was at eye level with the little creature and his height wasn’t so menacing. It looked like a girl, but he wanted to be sure before he addressed her.

“Hey, what’s your name, little cutie?”

She hid behind her father’s knees, peeking out from behind them. 

The Doctor sighed.

“Elyne, this appears to be your grandfather.”

The little girl now dared to open her eyes and stared at him.

“What’s a grann… grannfather?” She asked.

“I’m your daddy’s daddy!” He explained.

Two amber eyes stared at him in disbelief. The little brain seemed to try to make sense of that piece of information. Her little eyebrows frowned.

“Where has he found you, daddy?”

She asked, looking up to her father. The Tinkerer was already in love with his granddaughter. She was a thinking kid.

His son was obviously uncomfortable with this question.

“Alright, who is up for some cookies?” The Doctor asked, lifting his daughter up.

“Meeeee!” The little girl exclaimed enthusiastically.

“Me, too! And I’m sure you are, too,” he added, poking his son’s tummy.

“Oi!”

His son shot him an angry gaze that he found adorable. He really wondered where he got that eyebrows from. It was always a little sad that only the first incarnation resembled the parents and later on they were taking on the faces of other people. But the attack eyebrows were definitely a feature he liked a lot. He would need to ruffle them if he got the chance to get close enough, just to see his son’s angry reaction.

“Ah, come on, you angry old Scotsman, where are the cookies?”

He gave his son a hearty slap between the shoulder blades that sent him stumbling forward.

They went to the kitchen and the Doctor brought a large metal box with cookies.

Each took one. He couldn’t take his eyes off that little girl who eyed him curiously, munching her cookie. She rose her nose and sniffed in his direction.

“You smell like daddy.”

She said. He smiled broadly.

“Sure. I’m your daddy’s daddy. So, technically speaking, your daddy smells like me.”

He amber eyes widened.

“You have a good nose there,” he added, putting his big index finger on the small, soft nose. His granddaughter’s eyes tried to follow his finger, which made her cross-eyed and she giggled. His hearts felt warm at this sight and the noise.

“She’s half Igneos, half human.” The Doctor stated.

“He is not my real daddy, he only allowed me to say that,” Elyne remarked with a somber nod that made his hearts ache.

“Who told you that?” He asked, eying his son suspiciously. He knew his son was not really good with emotions, so he could imagine he really told his daughter that she was ‘just adopted’ or something equally hurtful for a small child.

“Everybody says it, the kids in the playground and their mommy’s and daddy’s.” Elyne said.

He tilted his head sideways, pretending to eye his son. He let his eyes wander between the Doctor and Elyne.

“What is he then, if he’s not your real daddy? How is he not real? Is he a ghost? Or a Zygon that looks like a daddy?”

He got up and moved around the table. He started to tickle his son’s armpits and the Doctor instantly started to giggle and tried to escape his fingertips, but the Tinkerer was much faster and much more accustomed to tickle people.

“Oi, stop it, stop it, you!”

The Doctor shouted desperately. It never failed. His son was incredibly ticklish, just like his mom had been. Elyne laughed seeing her daddy giggling so helplessly.

He let go and turned to Elyne. He declared with almost ceremonial earnest:

“Okay, Elyne, I checked. Ghosts aren’t ticklish, and Zygons aren’t, either. Your daddy is real. You can tell all the kids in the playground and every other pudding brain who says he is not a real daddy: You have commissioned an engineer. He has checked him thoroughly and this is his official report: This daddy is real! And whoever says otherwise challenges the expertise of one of the most renowned engineers of this galaxy. And you can tell them I will sue them for it!”

He got to his knees and stretched out his arms.

“Okay?” He smiled.

His little granddaughter got up and into his arms.

“Okay,” she said, “thanks for checking, Daddydaddy!”

Both his hearts melted instantly as two small arms hugged his neck tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm absolutely sure the Doctor is ticklish. Don't ask me why.


	2. The Magical Horse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tinkerer gives his little granddaughter a ride on his shoulders. The Doctor is not comfortable with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s [InsideTheTardis'](https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsideTheTardis/pseuds/InsideTheTardis) birthday today and I thought she deserved a surprise story with her little baby dragon Elyne and her old grandfather.

“Fancy a ride?” The Tinkerer asked the small girl that hugged his neck.

Two amber eyes looked up at him, skeptical.

“A ride?”

He nodded and grinned.

“Yes. With the unique, magical horse?”

Her eyes widened and she nodded. He turned her around and lifted her up over his head. She gave a surprised squeal. The Doctor gasped and jumped up from his chair, eyes wide with shock. The Tinkerer sat the little girl on his shoulders.

“You might want to hold tight because it will be a bumpy ride. Ready?”

He asked. He felt two little hands seeking a hold on his head. Finally, she settled for grabbing his sideburns. Clever girl, he thought.

“Oi, you, do you think they are reins?”

She immediately let go as if he had scolded her. She was a sensible child, he noted. He should be more careful.

“It’s okay, little cutie, in fact they _are_ naturally grown reins, you are very smart for noticing. I’m just not sure if they have grown long enough to hold you safely when we pick up maximum speed. You might want to hold to my forehead instead.”

He felt the arms hands coming back, hesitantly wrapping around his head.

“That’s more like it,” he encouraged her, “ready?”

“Uh-hu.”

He felt her nod. He grabbed her legs tightly.

“Then, here we go!”

He exclaimed and started galloping around the table and the whole kitchen. The little girl squealed with glee.

“Oi, put her down, for god’s sake! She will fall down!”

The Doctor was obviously shocked by what he saw and had followed them, reaching out his arms to catch Elyne if she should fall. The Tinkerer abruptly stopped to gallop, causing the Doctor to bump into him. Elyne giggled.

The Tinkerer turned around to look at his son. Then, he turned his head up so he could look into the eyes of Elyne who looked down at him.

“Your Daddy is afraid I let you drop, little cutie. Are you afraid I let you drop?”

She shook her little head.

“Uh-uh,” she replied.

“And you don’t have to, because I am a certified magical horse with all my routine checkups done. I have never let anyone riding on my shoulders drop my whole lifetime.”

He started again galloping the kitchen, making her bump on his shoulders.

“You know what this magical horse is, too, Elyne?” He asked her.

“No?” She giggled.

“A jumper!” He laughed, took a run-up and jumped over a kitchen chair. Elyne shrieked and laughed when they landed safely on the other side.

“Stop it!” The Doctor exclaimed, fear and horror in his voice.

The Tinkerer faced his son. He looked into a pair of old eyes that held an expression of anxiety and distress under deeply knitted attack eyebrows. He really was concerned. Before him stood a man who had defended planets and galaxies against the most horrifying monsters. Who had lived a long life and never showed fear in the face of mortal danger. And yet, this man was really afraid his own father could put his little daughter at risk.

Was it because he grew up without a father? Because he had never experienced how much his father cared for him? Was he missing the basic trust into his father – and probably in everybody else?

“Hey, Elyne?”

He said softly to his granddaughter on his shoulders.

“Yes, Daddydaddy?” She replied.

“I think your daddy needs a big hug. And I think he needs it from you.”

“Uh-hu,” she replied.

The Tinkerer reached for his granddaughter, took her carefully under the armpits and lifted her over his head. The little girl screamed with delight. The Doctor looked with horror, reaching his arms out to catch her if she should fall.

The Tinkerer placed Elyne in front of the Doctor’s chest so she could reach around her father’s neck. The Doctor immediately took her into his arms and hugged her tight. Then he inspected her as if to make sure she hadn’t been damaged by the ride.

“That was fun!” Elyne beamed at her father.

The Doctor smiled weakly at his daughter and his eyebrows relaxed.

“That’s great, little one!” He said, even if it didn’t sound convinced.

The Tinkerer looked at his son who was leaning his head against the head of his small daughter who played with his hair.

He stepped forward and wrapped his large arms around his wonderfully warmhearted and caring son and his clever and beautiful little granddaughter. 

He couldn’t change the past. He couldn’t change that his son had had to grow up without a loving family. But maybe, he thought, maybe, he would be able to help him now that he was a father himself.


End file.
